Can the UK's Toads Be Saved from Roads and Population Collapse?

It's Friday night at half past seven, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a market town in Wiltshire to meet up with local helpers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people give up their nights to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly uncommon. A latest research led by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Observing a species that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decline is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in most of areas in the UK," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Danger from Roads

Though the study didn't cover the causes for the drop, traffic certainly plays a part. Calculations indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – in other words, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which would probably be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads favor big bodies of water. Their capacity to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can journey farther to reach them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They usually stick to their traditional paths – it's common for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around February 14th, but some move as far as spring, waiting until it gets dark and moving through the night. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who grew up in the region and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a boy, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their path happens to a street, they could all get run over, and that mating period would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Throughout the United Kingdom

Finding hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of toad patrols throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a countrywide program. These groups collect toads and carry them over streets in containers, as well as recording the number of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the migration season, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this implies they can miss groups of young toads, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their carcasses can be counted.

Year-Round Work

In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out year-round – not nightly, but whenever conditions are warm and wet, or if a member has posted about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a arid period – but several of the volunteers gamely agree to patrol their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the group coordinator, indicating her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. After for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Participation

The family duo joined the group a while back. The teenager loves all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to search for things they could do jointly to help native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the group was looking for a new manager recently, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the group. A clip he created, urging the local council to block a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the council approved an "access-only" rule between evening and morning from February through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

A few cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we find some victims as a result – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a harvestman, which dances in his palms. Yet in spite of the group's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has obviously settled down for the winter. It seems that I couldn't have found any more luck elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I get from another volunteer, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a famous site, considered the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team expects to help approximately 10,000 mature amphibians over the street.

Impact and Challenges

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The reality that people are doing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is quite extraordinary," notes an expert. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has meant extended spells of drought, which create the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have led to an increase of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to wake up from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of big water bodies – is another menace.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," however "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads play an important role in the food chain, consuming almost any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – such as building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

An additional motive to try to keep toads present is their "important cultural value," adds an expert. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred